The Unseen Realm; Learning from Barchester Towers; and Christian Contentment

The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible - Michael Heiser

Summary

A book about how the Bible was written and understood in its original context, paying particular attention to the theme of the invisible, spiritual realm, including the activities of Yahweh’s “Divine Council” and those of the demonic host. Heiser re-tells the story of Scripture with this emphasis in mind, helping us to see that a central part of it concerns the battle between Yahweh and his elohim against the gods who have rebelled against him and now oppose his purposes.

Heiner’s hermeneutical strategy for reading Scripture.

In many ways, this is a summary of what this book is about. In my words.

1. Pay attention to what the Bible is saying about the unseen realm. Don’t ignore it.

2. Pay attention to the context of the Bible, not to what is palatable or what we would like it to say. Again, don’t ignore it just to make it palatable. Pay close attention to strange passages such as Genesis 6:1-4.

3. Instead of studying Scriptures in isolation by breaking them up, look for connections between texts across the whole cannon. This is how the biblical writers approached things. This is called intertextuality.

4. How the New Testament writers interpreted the Old Testament is very important. Work it out. They were using the Septuagint. Therefore the Septuagint is a big deal.

5. Finally, pay attention to the extensive use of metaphor in Scripture. The writers were far more metaphorically minded than literally minded modern people. Even when there are plain literal meanings to eg place names or animals, there are almost always metaphorical resonances.

Summary of points: unseen realm, context, intertextuality, Septuagint, metaphor.

Three Other Things I Learned